Transportdata.be

Belgian National Access Point for Transport Data

Maintaining Belgium's Transport Data Portal

Transportdata.be serves as Belgium's National Access Point (NAP) for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), providing crucial transport and traffic data to support mobility applications across the country. Redpencil was awarded a 4-year maintenance and development contract by the National Geographic Institute (NGI) to ensure the portal's continuous operation and evolution.

This CKAN-based data portal demonstrates our expertise in maintaining critical government infrastructure while implementing modern data management practices and ensuring long-term sustainability.

Technical Challenges & Solutions

The project involves comprehensive modernization and ongoing maintenance of a critical national data infrastructure.

  • Legacy System Modernization

    Upgrading from outdated components (Ubuntu 18.04, Python 2.7, CKAN 2.8) to modern, supported versions while ensuring minimal downtime migration and data integrity.

  • Cloud Independence & Data Sovereignty

    Breaking free from vendor lock-in by migrating to a cloud-agnostic architecture using European providers. This strategic move not only ensures Belgium retains full control over its critical transport data but also future-proofs the infrastructure against changing geopolitical and regulatory landscapes.

  • Multi-Environment Architecture

    Implementing proper DevOps practices with Development, Staging, and Production environments, ensuring safe deployment cycles and comprehensive testing procedures across the new cloud-agnostic infrastructure.

  • Reliable Operations & Security

    Ensuring consistent access to transport metadata catalogs through automated backup strategies (daily on-site, monthly off-site), security monitoring, and systematic incident response procedures.

  • DCAT Mobility Application Profile Implementation

    Implementing the DCAT Mobility Application Profile within CKAN to ensure transport data follows European mobility standards, enabling better interoperability and automated discovery across national and international transport data networks.

  • CKAN Plugin Refactoring

    Updating and refactoring multiple CKAN plugins including pages, ytp_request, spatial_metadata, and custom Belgian NAP extensions to work with modern CKAN architecture.

Service Delivery Model

Our maintenance contract combines fixed routine operations with flexible on-demand development, ensuring both stability and adaptability.

Fixed Services

  • monitoring and incident response
  • Automated backup and disaster recovery
  • Security monitoring and vulnerability management
  • Bi-annual software update cycles
  • GitHub repository management

On-Demand Services

  • Custom CKAN plugin development
  • User interface enhancements
  • Metadata profile extensions
  • API customizations and automations
  • Analytics integration and reporting

Key Outcomes & Impact

Our maintenance approach ensures transportdata.be remains a reliable, secure, and modern platform for Belgium's transport data ecosystem.

95%
Guaranteed uptime
4
Years of continuous maintenance contracted
24h
Maximum recovery time objective

Why This Project Matters

Transportdata.be exemplifies our approach to data portal maintenance: combining deep technical expertise with government sector experience to deliver reliable, future-proof solutions. This project demonstrates our ability to modernize legacy systems while maintaining critical service availability, implement proper DevOps practices for government infrastructure, and provide flexible development capabilities that evolve with changing requirements.

The success of this tender shows our commitment to open standards, transparent development practices, and long-term partnership with public sector clients who depend on stable, secure data infrastructure.

Looking to build your own data portal?

Transportdata.be represents a Level 2 dataset-based portal in our data sharing framework. Whether you need entry-level data sharing or advanced semantic portals, we can guide you to the right solution.

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